Chapter Text
Let it be known that Taako didn’t like kids. He just happened to be pretty okay with them.
No, okay he wasn't even going to give himself that much. He didn’t know the first thing about how to deal with kids. He was pretty sure there were rules, but like fuck did he know any of them. He found that generally, if you asked them what the hell was up they would tell you. Despite that, for some reason people were always shocked when he knew how to solve the problems. Like fuck, he wasn’t even that good of a listener, kids just tended to be real blunt. If anything, he didn’t understand why people always had such a problem with kids.
But none of that meant he liked kids. He liked them about as much as he liked most people, which suffice to say, wasn’t a whole lot.
Something he did like though was money, and having it in general.
And that was something that had been in pretty short supply for him lately. Like, he wasn’t struggling or anything (or at least, that’s what he told Lup and Barry whenever they’d get on his case being all concerned or what not) but things had been a little tight lately.
Maybe there were a couple factors influencing the number of jelly and nothing sandwiches he’d been eating lately. Some of them had nothing to do with money, but it was still definitely one of the leading ones. Not the only one, but it was up there for sure.
The main point of order for all of this was that income had been pretty tight for a while. Trying to get another part time job on top of the hours he was already working would be hell on earth though, but he needed something to bring in some extra cash.
And Taako, even if he didn’t like kids never had any issues convincing people he was good with them. Sure, sometimes it was a little bit harder to convince them that he was qualified to actually tutor kids, but fuck it, he had a degree. No one could deny the fancy paper with his name on it. He could handle some ten year olds with multiplication tables or writing five paragraph essays or whatever it was they were teaching the youth these days.
Plus, it worked with his hours. Tutoring wasn’t a real structured thing, his availability was more of the deciding factor than the student’s. It wasn’t like the kids had another job or anything they had to get to after all. As long as he was good at least twice a week after school hours it could be squeezed in.
And hey, if it didn’t work out he could just stop. This was a tentative thing he was trying out to see if it was worth it for the extra cash.
Which he guessed he was about to find out. He was sitting in what was a little study room in the library. The school that had hired him was pretty fancy, but it seemed more like a closet than a functional room. The only things in there were a couple beat up, shitty chairs and a table with a million carvings on its surface. He’d been waiting here for about ten minutes now, which he knew wasn’t actually a super long amount of time. He was still starting to get the urge to fucking add to the carvings himself though, he was so bored.
Maybe whatever kid he was supposed to help wouldn’t show. He would hope for that, if he wasn’t unsure whether or not he’d still get paid for the time otherwise. Right now he only had one kid he was going to work with. Something about the fancy charter school here wanting kids to get good one on one attention and things like that, which Taako guessed was a valiant effort. He was mostly glad that it meant this would be pretty damn easy. He wouldn't be stuck doing the same damn work over and over again, at any rate.
He spent about fifteen minutes in total of waiting and tracing the crudely carved names in the table and biting on the end of his pencil. He was getting dangerously close to gnawing right through the thing when the door to the study room opened.
“Um, hello sir, sorry to disturb you. Are you Mr. Taako?” a kid asked, peaking in a bit nervously. He had these big glasses on and his clothes looked like a school uniform, even though Taako knew that uniforms weren’t required at this particular school. So he just chose to dress like that. Or he had parents who fucking hated him or something.
“Sure am, and you must be Agnes? You’re pretty late kiddo,” he said, and once he confirmed who he was the kid rushed into the room. He looked like he was about ten or so, and his bookbag was a little too big for his frame.
“Um, it’s Angus, Angus McDonald, and I’m really sorry about that! I got lost trying to find this study room, and I ran into one of my teachers while I was looking and we ended up talking and I’m really sorry for being late sir,” he said, speaking pretty rapidly. Taako waved a hand dismissively as the kid started pulling a whole bunch of junk out of his backpack.
“Not a problem, this fucking library is pretty much a labyrinth. I can’t blame you there,” he said, and then flinched somewhat when he realized exactly what he’d said. “Uh, I mean, fricking, or um, darn library,” he tried to correct. It was a good thing he didn’t have like, a supervisor on him right now. The kid was trying to suppress some laughter as he finished getting out his supplies though.
“You can curse in front of me if you want to sir, I won’t tell anyone,” he said, and okay, that was good at least.
“You sure you’re not a nark kid? Positive you’re not gonna go nark on me?” he asked, mostly teasing. Kids did tend to eat it up sometimes hearing curses, so he doubted it would actually be an issue as long as no actual responsible adults overheard.
“Oh I promise! I’m no- I’m not a square,” he said, clearly trying to sound as confident as possible. It was kinda cute. Taako still wasn’t fucking ecstatic about this whole gig, but at least the kid he was stuck with didn’t seem completely horrible yet. Which, speaking of
“So, what do we got going here? I’ll be straight with you kid,” he had to physically hold himself back from adding ‘well, gay with you’ to that. “This is my first try at the whole tutoring thing, so there might be some stumbling around. Plus we lost a good chunk of the hour already, so we should probably get to the meat of this,” he said, and Angus nodded.
“Right, of course sir! Um, I’m not too sure where to start either I suppose. I uh, I have a book report I need to write, but I’m not sure if you’ve read the book or not. I have some math homework I guess we could do… and a history project, but that’s not due for a few more weeks,” he started listing off. Taako nodded, and that all seemed pretty fair game.
“Cool cool, we can totally get to all that stuff. Maybe not in the uuuh, 40ish minutes we’ve got left today, but we’ll get to it,” he said, trying to think of how best to approach this. “I guess, what’s due first? We can start on that,” he said, and Angus nodded, shuffling through the junk in his bookbag before pulling out a math book.
“The math homework is due tomorrow, the report isn’t until friday,” he explained, and that would work.
“Cool, math today then, and we’re meeting up again on Wednesday right? We can take care of the essay then,” he suggested, and Angus nodded.
“Sounds good sir!” he said, opening up the book and showing Taako the section he had homework on. It was definitely a bit more advanced than multiplication tables and long division, but even though Taako kind of sucked at math it wasn’t anything super out of his reach. It also didn’t seem to be too much of a problem for Angus either.
In fact, he seemed to pretty thoroughly understand it. He’d given Taako a quick run down of what he was supposed to do, and that checked out. Whenever he finished a problem Taako would go over it, checking for mistakes with the kid. Sure, there were a few spots here and there where he’d added in his head wrong or flipped around a couple numbers by mistake, but that was human error stuff. Otherwise, he seemed to understand what he needed to do pretty damn well.
Which honestly, wasn’t a shock to Taako. Like, he knew you couldn’t judge people based off of looks alone, but he also knew that looks told you a lot about a person. People dressed and acted the way they did for a reason, and sure that wasn’t everything about someone but it was still a good start a lot of the time.
And Angus? He looked like a fucking nerd, for sure.
“It’s been forever since I’ve been in elementary school, is this really the standard of what they’re teaching you kids now a days? It seems pretty advanced,” he said, after a good thirty minutes of quietly working with the kid on his homework. This was going a hell of a lot better than he thought it would. He only had like two more problems left, and so Taako figured it wouldn’t hurt to start wrapping up soon. They probably wouldn’t have enough time to start any meaningful work on that book report once they were done after all, since he’d come in late.
“Um, I’m actually in the middle school sir, but I can understand how you would make that mistake since there is an elementary school here too,” Angus said, and once again, Taako wasn’t shocked. He still lifted an eyebrow in question though.
“Really now? How old are you exactly? Like eight?” he guessed, and he knew he was low balling that estimate. From the slightly offended look on Angus’s face, it was definitely older than eight.
“I’m ten sir,” he said, and Taako shrugged, not caring much either way.
“Same difference. You must be pretty smart to already be in middle school,” he said, and Angus smiled proudly before nodding.
“I am, they let me skip a bunch of grades,” he said. He’d stopped working on the math homework at this point, although he wasn’t done yet. Taako pointed back at his paper, and Angus seemed to jolt, having forgotten about the homework for a moment before going back to it.
“Right, that’s what I figured,” Taako said, and yeah, it seemed like this was going to be pretty easy. At least for as long as he had Angus, the kid definitely didn’t seem like he actually needed a lot of help.
“So, if that’s the case, why a tutor? Not that I don’t mind the easy job but I’m just curious here,” he asked, and Angus finished up the last of the problems before answering.
“I mean, it just seemed like a good idea. They were offering them and I figured it wouldn’t hurt,” he said, and there was something there that felt like he wasn't telling the whole truth. Still, Taako guessed that made sense. Not to him, he never would’ve done something like that when he was in school, but looking at Angus he could see how he would think that.
“Ah, so you’re just a nerd trying to get even more ahead of the game here, huh?” he said, and Angus looked a little embarrassed as he closed his math textbook.
“I guess so,” he muttered, and Taako didn’t particularly feel bad about teasing the kid, but he figured he should probably lay off a bit right now. He was being payed to help the kid after all, not mess with him.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. My best friend and sister are both huge nerds, I know how it is,” he said, and Angus laughed a little at that.
“But you’re not a nerd, are you sir?” he asked and Taako scoffed at the question.
“Of course not, do I look like one to you? Trick question, there is only one answer to that and it’s hell fucking no,” he said. Angus looked pretty amused and not all embarrassed anymore now, which was good. Taako didn’t want him going to people saying his tutor was mean or something like that. He couldn’t tell if he was the kind of kid who would do that or not yet.
“Um, are we going to work on anything else today sir?” he asked, and Taako shrugged.
“I mean, if you’ve got anything else we can do quick sure, but otherwise we’ve only got like ten minutes and I’m not sure if it’s worth it to start something only to have to put it away again right away,” he said. Angus seemed to think it over before nodding.
“That’s fair sir. I promise I’ll be here on time Wednesday and we can get more done then,” he said, and Taako waved him off.
“It’s your grades and shit kid, not mine. I’m fine either way,” he said.
“I suppose that’s fair sir,” Angus said, starting to pack his supplies back up. It was a little weird having someone call him ‘sir’ so much, Taako didn’t even think people did that sort of stuff anymore, let alone kids. He guessed this one was a big enough dork to though, but he wasn’t going to call him out on it. He’d already teased the kid enough, and he didn’t want to risk messing up this new gig yet. Especially since it seemed like it would be a lot easier than he thought it might be.
“So, I’ll see you Wednesday?” Angus asked, and Taako nodded.
“Sure thing. Same room, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding it this time,” he said. Angus slung his slightly too big book bag back over his shoulder once he was finished filling it up again.
“Alright, see you then sir! It was nice to meet you,” he said with a smile before rushing out of the room. As soon as he was gone Taako started packing up his own stuff, which was a lot less than what the kid had. He didn’t have too much of an idea about what he was supposed to bring, so he’d only had like, a notebook for scrap paper in case he needed to write and a calculator. Stuffing that shit back into his own bag, he grabbed his phone where he’d had it charging on silence in a corner.
He frowned when he saw the missed call on his screen from Lup. Of course she had to try to get in contact with him right when he’d been avoiding his phone. It wasn’t that he wasn’t chill to talk to his sister, he always was. It was just that he hadn’t told her or Barry about this new job yet. He’d been planning to try it out for a few weeks before mentioning it, in case it ended up being completely horrible and he had to quit. Didn’t want to end up getting anyone’s hopes up after all.
Taako didn’t go to call her back right away. Instead he made sure to leave the school first, giving a nod to the people still in the front office on his way out as a general ‘hey I was here and worked and you see me leaving at the normal time I’m supposed to leave’ thing.
Once he was outside he sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and hitting Lup’s number. It only rang twice before she picked up.
“What up, tell me no one died in the fucking forty five minutes I wasn’t hovering over my phone,” he said immediately. There was no reason why anyone would die, as far as he knew at least, but you could never be sure.
“No, no one died,” Lup said, sounding amused more than anything.
“Cool cool, so why didn’t you just text me then?” he asked, because that was the general go to with them. It was definitely weird that she’d called but didn’t leave any kind of text when he hadn’t answered after a bit.
“Because this is something pretty important, actually, despite the lack of death,” she said, and that had Taako’s attention.
“Oh? Well fucking lay it on me, what’s up?” he asked, starting to walk back to his apartment. Thankfully it was a nice day, and his apartment wasn’t far for the days when it wasn’t. He’d been pretty damn lucky to get this school. He might’ve also been not jumping at the first job that came along, even though he probably should’ve. Shit worked out in the end though, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Hopefully whatever Lup had to talk about was important enough that she wouldn’t question what he’d been doing that he couldn’t answer her phone. They tended to be pretty alright with the whole privacy thing, but Lup and Barry had been kind of on his case lately. He guessed he could understand why, but he’d rather they lay off some. He was doing fine.
Maybe he hadn't been too fine for a while there, but he was fine now.
“So, I just realized that like, I have no fucking idea what to get Barry for our anniversary,” she said, and she sounded a lot more worried than Taako was used to hearing his sister. That wasn’t a surprise though, it was fucking ridiculous how into each other her and Barold were. Taako joked about it making him sick a lot, but he honestly was happy for the two of them. It was pretty nice, seeing the two most important people in his life all happy and shit.
So Lup being all nervous about getting a perfect anniversary gift seemed pretty par for the course. He wouldn’t have thought twice about this, if not for one thing.
“Lup?” he asked, doing a bit of mental checking to make sure he was right here.
“Yeah Koko?”
“I’m pretty damn sure your anniversary isn’t for another five goddamn months,” he said, letting his voice sound as unamused as possible.
“Well yeah, but I should start figuring this shit out now. The first anniversary is fucking important,” she insisted.
“Okay, I will give you that your first year being all in marital bliss is a pretty cool milestone, and it took you two dorks long enough to get there,” he said, although this whole thing was still pretty ridiculous.
“That being said, it’s not fucking ‘stop the presses! Gotta call Taako right fucking now, no time to send a text this is an emergency’ deal. Seriously, I was actually busy,” he added. He could hear Lup grumbling on the other side of the line, and he rolled his eyes even though she couldn’t see him. She could probably sense it, and that was the most important part.
“I might've gotten a little caught up in the realization okay, happy?” she said. Taako took his time hemming and hawing a bit dramatically.
“I guess so,” he finally relented once he reached his door.
“So, what exactly were you busy with?” Lup asked suddenly, and Taako was glad she couldn’t see him flinch. She could probably sense it though, which was less satisfying than the eye roll.
“Oh you know,” he said flippantly, starting up to his shitty apartment. That was the wrong thing to say, because he could practically feel Lup getting suspicious on the other end.
“Nope, don’t know bro, that’s why I asked,” she said. Taako was debating in his head if he wanted to tell her yet or not. He’d been planning on waiting until he was sure about this job, but this had been a pretty good first day. Of course, that might just be because he was lucky with the kid he got.
He had no idea how long he’d stick with a kid for yet, but he doubted it would be too long. Angus didn’t seem like he actually needed a tutor after all, so who was to say in like two weeks he wouldn’t have new brat who would drive him up a fucking wall. Hell, there was no way to say that the kid he was working with now wouldn’t turn out to be insufferable. Good first impressions could always be wrong.
But he also knew Lup, and that she was going to find out eventually. It didn’t matter if he quit or not, she would be able to tell something was up. Especially with the way her and Barry had been kind of hovering over him ever since they got back from their honeymoon.
“Listen, it ain’t a big deal. Just started a new part time job today. Fuck, not even part time, like a quarter time job, if that,” he said, unlocking his apartment door and heading inside. He’d been living here for about half a year now, but there was still shit packed away in boxes and piled in corners. He told himself he’d get to them once he actually needed the shit that was inside. He hadn’t yet, so taking the things out would make an even bigger mess than there already was.
“Oh shit, seriously? What kind of job? I didn’t know you got another job,” Lup asked, and that was about what Taako had been expecting.
“Like I said, it’s barely a job. I just figured some extra spending cash wouldn’t hurt. I haven’t been able to go on a real good shopping spree in a fucking while and it’s a goddamn shame,” he said. He could hear Lup humming in agreement, and he knew she was aware it was more than a lack of shopping sprees, but she didn’t call him out on it. That was why he appreciated her so fucking much.
“But yeah, it’s just a little tutoring thing. Helping some tiny gremlins with their math homework or whatever a couple times a week. You know that fancy charter school a few blocks down from me? It’s there,” he explained.
“That’s great Taako!” Lup said, and she sounded genuinely happy about this. Taako wasn’t too surprised by that, he knew she was worried about him being all shut in and shit.
“Eh, today was the first day so let’s not get our hopes up yet, but it wasn’t horrible. The kid I’m stuck with seems alright, he didn’t even need my help really,” he said, shifting the phone on his shoulder some so that he could grab a shitty microwave dinner out of the freezer. Maybe it was a little early for dinner, but he didn’t have anything else to do for the rest of the night.
“Well, it sounds like a good gig, I’m proud of you bro,” she said, and Taako tried not to let himself get uncomfortable with the sincerity in her voice. Of course Lup was proud of him. No matter what disasters they got into they were always proud of each other.
“Like I said, we’ll see,” he said, not letting himself put too much stock in this whole thing yet despite that. Even if it ended up being a fine thing, it was still temporary at the end of the day. Sure, he was stuck at his dead end goddamn call center job for now, but he wouldn’t be there forever. Or at least he wasn’t planning on it. Once he got something nicer he could quit that and the tutoring thing.
“So, you were going on about not knowing what to do for an anniversary gift?” he asked, and maybe he was deflecting the slightest bit, but also there wasn’t much left to talk about on his end either.
“Right, and like I know it’s a long time from now but what if I want to like, plan a trip or something? That requires a lot of working in advance. Would something like that be too much though?” she asked, and Taako couldn’t help but be amused at how much of a fucking disaster his sister was. Like sure, he was a wreck too, but she was one in lots of fun other ways.
“I mean, that might not be the best option. If Barry decides to do a trip too you two could end up with conflicting schedules,” he said.
“Oh shit, fuck you’re right that would be a problem,” she said. Taako laughed at the fact that he should’ve been joking about that, but it was actually a very real concern with the two of them. “So not a trip, but uh, something,” she said, sounding like she had absolutely no ideas, and Taako guessed that was probably the case. That or she had too many ideas to the point where she couldn’t focus on one. Both were extremely likely.
“Well, the good news is you’ve got some time to figure it out,” he assured her, and Lup reluctantly agreed.
Taako spent the next hour or so on the phone with his sister, eating his shitty microwaved dinner while they spit-balled ideas for anniversary gifts. Most of the ones Taako suggested were shitty, mainly because it wasn’t anywhere close enough for him to feel the need to be serious about this.
It was nice though, and right before they hung up Lup told him again how proud she was of him for going out and getting the tutoring job on his own. He brushed her off, but he was smiling the slightest bit when he set the phone down.
Taako could admit that things had been kinda shitty for him lately. Like, they were getting better and all, but it was still a lot of bullshit he hadn’t wanted to deal with.
And this job was small and barely even counted as one and he didn’t even like working with kids, but maybe it would be a step in the right direction.
Yeah, as reluctant as he was to hope for anything right now, he guessed this might actually be something good for him.
At the very least, it didn’t seem like it would be horrible, and that didn’t seem like too much to ask for.